Harvard College
Fall Term, 2008-2009 Academic Year
September 15 – December 16, 2008
Mind/Brain/Behavior 91: Music
& The Brain
Wednesdays 6:30 – 9:30 PM
William James Hall, 13th Floor, Room
1305
Syllabus
Updated October 13, 2008
Faculty
Mark Jude Tramo, MD, PhD
Director,
The Institute for Music & Brain Science
Department
of Neurology, Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital
Steering
Committee, Harvard University Mind/Brain/Behavior Interfaculty Initiative
Board
of Honors Tutors, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
Teaching
Affiliate, Department of Biology, Harvard University
Research
Affiliate, Research Laboratory of Electornics, M.I.T.
Songwriter
Member, ASCAP
Office
hours by appointment, The Institute for Music & Brain Science, 175
Cambridge St, Suite 340, Room 382, Boston
Course Description
MBB
91: Music & The Brain, now in its 12th year in the FAS courses of instruction
(formerly Psychology 987b), takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding
neural systems governing music perception, performance, and cognition. The
course begins with a series of lectures by Professor Tramo that provides
students with diverse backgrounds a common fund of knowledge in functional
neuroanatomy, auditory neurophysiology, psychoacoustics, cognitive psychology,
and music. Thereafter, individual
seminars focus on specific themes, such as pitch perception, harmony
perception, emotion and meaning in music, development, and creativity. Seminars are designed to help students:
1) understand methodologies currently used to investigate
physical-perceptual-neural correlates; 2) cultivate analytical skills through critical
appraisals of "primary-source" experimental literature published in
peer-reviewed science, medical, music, and education journals; and 3) develop
oral presentation skills in a supervised setting. Semi-weekly reading and homework problem sets from the
required text, Rossing's Science of Sound, solidify working knowledge of basic concepts (e.g.,
resonance, decibels, scales) needed for the advanced readings that are the
springboard for each seminarÕs provocative discussions of neuroscientific data
collection and analysis methods, results, interpretation, and corroboration. By
the end of the course, students will have both a broad understanding of
empirical research in cognitive neuroscience and specific knowledge about brain
mechanisms mediating music perception and performance.
Prerequisites
Secondary
school mathematics and physics. No music background necessary. If you are not familiar with the
vocabulary of music, get the Harvard Dictionary of Music, which is listed below
under Recommended Books and is available at the Coop and Harvard University
Press bookstore on Massachusetts Avenue, the Music Library, and on-line.
Books
The
Harvard Coop ordered only 12 of the 20 copies of our required text that I
requested, and they had only 6 copies as of this afternoon. Since there are problem sets due next
week, ordering the 2001 edition of Science of Sound overnight via Amazon is
highly recommended. Professor Tramo
is connected with a charitable organization and would be glad to help –
please email mtramo@hms.harvard.edu
if you are interested.
Required
The
Science of Sound, Rossing, Moore, and Wheeler, 2001
Weekly
Articles from Professional Journals posted at www.BrainMusic.org -> Education -> InstituteÕs eLibrary -> download the assigned PDF
Recommended
The
Harvard Dictionary of Music: Fourth Edition, D.M. Randel (Editor), 2003
Introduction
to the Psychology of Hearing, 5th Edition, Brian Moore, 2003
The
Psychology of Music, 2nd Edition, Diana Deutsch (Editor), 1999
Music,
Language, and the Brain,
Aniruddh D. Patel, 2007
Requirements & Grading
¥
Weekly attendance and participation in seminar discussions that reflects you have read the assigned
journal papers (20-25%)
¥
Performance on homework problem sets (35-40%)
¥ Oral
presentations of papers using overheads or powerpoint at 2-3 seminars (35-40%;
first presentation is not graded to allow for practice and feedback)
¥ No
exams, no term papers
¥
Check www.BrainMusic.org Education link for updated Syllabus and
Homework assignments
Lecture &
Seminar Schedule
September 17:
Lecture I
¥ Course
Overview
¥ Music
Cognition
¥ Human Brain
Organization
Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Sept 24
Sept 19tht
Study Card due for
Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors, & Graduate Students
Sept 22nd
Study Card due for
Freshmen
September 24:
Lecture II
¥ Pictures of
Sound
¥ Experimental
Methods in Neuroscience
¥ Experimental
Methods in Psychophysics
Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Oct 1
Oct 1st
Last day to drop or
add a course without incurring a fee
October 1: Lecture
III
¥ Pictures of
Music
¥ Experimental
Methods in Cognitive Psychology
¥ Anatomy of the
Peripheral and Central Auditory Nervous Systems
Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Oct 8
October 8: Seminar
I
¥ Frequency
Processing & Pitch Perception:
Psychophysics
& Functional Neuroanatomy
Study Section Team
A & Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Oct 15
October 15:
Seminar II
¥ Frequency
Processing & Pitch Perception:
Functional
Neuroanatomy & Neural Coding
Study Section Team
A & Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Oct 22
Oct 13th
Last day to drop or
add a course or change to or from letter-graded or pass/fail.
October 22:
Seminar III
¥ Pitch Perception: Review
¥ Harmony
Perception in the Vertical Dimension:
¥ Laboratory Exercise: Finding your Æf for Maximal Roughness & Just Noticeable Roughness
using Two Sine Wave Function Generators & the Method of Adjustment
Study Section Team
B & Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Oct 29
Oct 27th
Last day to petition
to withdraw from a course.
October 29:
Seminar IV
¥ Harmony
Perception in the Vertical Dimension:
Cognitive Psychology & Functional Neuroanatomy
Study Section Team
B & Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Nov 5
November 5:
Seminar V
¥ Harmony
Perception in the Vertical Dimension:
¥ Harmony Perception in the Horizontal Dimension: Cognitive Psychology
Study Section Teams B & C,& Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Nov 12
November 12:
Seminar VI
¥ Creativity in
Music:
Functional
Neuroanatomy & Psychopathology
Study Section Team
D & Dr. Berkowitz, Harvard Music Department
Click here for
Homework Due Nov 19
November 19:
Seminar VII
¥ Creativity in Music: Review
¥ Harmony Perception in the Horizontal Dimension:
Functional Neuroanatomy & Neurophysiology
Study Section Team
E & Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Nov 26
November 26: Thanksgiving
December 3:
Seminar VII
¥ Harmony Perception: Review
¥ Melody & Rhythm Perception: Cognitive Psychology,
Functional Neuroanatomy, & Neurology
Study Section Teams E & F & Professor Tramo
Click here for
Homework Due Dec 10
December 10:
Seminar X
¥ Emotion & Meaning in Music:
Psychophysiology, Functional Neuroanatomy, & Neurochemistry
Study Section Team
G & Professor Tramo
¥ Intelligence
& Talent in Music
Study Section Team
H & Professor Tramo
Last Day to Hand in Outstanding Homework
Last Day of Reading Period is Deadline for Emailing Outstanding Homework
END